China factory blast causes delays on high-speed rail line

BEIJING (Reuters) - An explosion at a factory in eastern China on Tuesday caused delays on the country's flagship high-speed railway line, state media said, in China's latest industrial accident.

The official Xinhua news agency said there were no injuries in the morning blast and fire at a concrete additive plant that damaged electrical supplies to the nearby Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway near Shandong province's city of Jinan.

"The power outage resulted in delayed or canceled trains," Xinhua said, citing the Jinan government.

Train services had resumed by mid-day, Xinhua said.

People responsible for the accident had been detained by police, the state-run Beijing News reported.

Accidents are relatively common at industrial plants in China, and anger over lax standards is growing after three decades of swift economic growth marred by incidents from mining disasters to factory fires.

China has vowed to improve safety at such facilities. President Xi Jinping has said authorities would learn the lessons paid for with blood after chemical blasts in the port city of Tianjin on Aug. 12 last year killed more than 170 people.